Lab Rat
by LoveFueledHate
Summary: Xavier Labs is the leading research facility in the search for aiding those born with disabilities and diseases caused by genetic mutations. The facility is dedicated to Charles F. Xavier, a young man who went missing while he was away at university. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **The characters are completely Marvel's but the plot idea is mine, any connections to other stories or movies or whatever else is purely coincidental. :)

**Summary:** ModernHuman!verse, in other words no powers. Can't tell you much else besides it's mainly Erik/Charles with very slight Raven/Erik and mention of past Shaw/Charles.

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><p><strong>Xavier Lab<strong>

Xavier Labs is the country's top research facility focusing on human genetic mutations. The research done there is to aid those individuals born with genetically caused diseases, health issues or physical disabilities. There is also a section dedicated to those who develop disabilities due to physical trauma later in life as well as a section that acts as a hospital for those that need critical care. The facility is highly renowned and only the world's top researchers, analysts and doctors are permitted to work there.

The facility was opened a year ago by Raven Xavier, the adopted daughter and only remaining heir of a wealthy family. She had it dedicated to her adopted brother, the real heir to the Xavier fortune, who had went missing two years ago.

Charles F. Xavier was a brilliant young man who had a bright future ahead of him as a professor or researcher of human genetics focusing on mutations. What had driven his passion for genetic mutation was that Charles himself was born with a disability, one that had left him permanently in a wheelchair by the time he was twenty years old.

When he was away at university in Oxford working on his thesis he had gone missing without a trace. The police hadn't been able to find any evidence pointing to it being a kidnapping and no body was ever found to indicate if it was a murder or not. The whole situation had the police stumped. It was as if he had just vanished off the face of the Earth.

In the year the facility had been opened remarkable breakthroughs had already been discovered and tested countless times. Those breakthroughs had already been made into viable aids for disabled individuals. The research hadn't fully cured anyone but a significant delay in the development and progression of genetic diseases had been noted in several sever case patients.

This morning the facility was slowly coming to full life as those who worked the day shift pulled into their parking spaces. The nurses and doctors that had been working with patients overnight began to pack it in to go home and get some well-deserved rest.

The sound of stilettoes against the tiled flooring echoed off the white walls, filling the otherwise silent hallway with the light _click-click-click_. The blonde woman wearing the stilettoes stopped in the middle of the hall to look over a file. She had been on her way back to her office after checking on their most promising patient while she reread the file on the new expert that was supposed to be coming in today. She just needed to refresh her memory.

The file contained a more than impressive resume, a list of references, all of which checked out and had wonderful things to say about his skills but had rather unpleasant things to say about his bed-side manor, and a photo of the man the file was about. She took the photo out, looking it over she smiled to herself.

"Erik Lehnsherr…"

School busses might have been a godsend to stay at home parents who had been waiting all summer to cart the kids off to school but to those who were late for work or more importantly for a job interview, they were sent straight from the devil himself.

"Come on, move it!" Erik growled as he slammed his hand down on the steering wheel of his car, the sound of the horn venting his frustration. The bus was taking far too long and blocking traffic, it was a two lane road and cars were passing by too quickly the other way for him to pass the bus.

He had slept in enough to make himself late for the interview, which had been set for far too damn early, and now he was going to be exponentially later due to a stupid bus.

He slammed his hand down on the horn once again.

Two of the teens sitting in the back of the bus turned around and glared at him then flicked him off just as the bus started to move again. The bus inched along the street making sure to go slower than the speed limit permitted. Erik knew this had to be the driver's way of getting back at him for honking at him or her which only made him mad enough to honk several more times.

It took another turn until the road widened to two lanes on each side so Erik could finally pass the bus. He glanced over at the driver, who was a rather unpleasant looking old woman that was also giving him the finger as he drove passed. He grinned at her before he drove ahead and quickly switched lanes so he was in front of the bus and could drive irritatingly slow just to get back at her and show her he was not one to be messed with.

Even though the bus turned off the road and he started to drive normally, it still took him another hour to find the exit he had been looking for then another half hour to find the actual place and pull into the packed parking lot.

He drove around for what seemed like yet another hour before he spotted someone pulling out of the perfect space, right in front of the facility. Once he parked he got out and grabbed his brief case before he headed inside, automatically locking his car with the control as he walked away from it.

He took a moment and just looked up at the building, it was only one story and possibly a basement but it was massive. He smiled to himself, knowing that if this place had sent him a request for a formal interview then he was one of, if not _the_ best, in his field.

The front door had an ID scanner on it that wouldn't permit anyone but the workers in through this entrance, patients were taken in around back were the hospital section was. Erik stared at the ID scanner for a moment then pressed the 'call' button beside it. Instantly, a camera above him, next to the door, flicked on and a woman's voice came from the small speaker beside it.

"Are you Erik Lehnsherr?"

Erik took a step back from the door and looked up at the camera with one eyebrow cocked. "Yes, I'm here on request for an interview."

"You're late."

Erik's gaze narrowed slightly, "That happens when certain people schedule job interviews at _six_ in the morning."

There was an audible sigh from the woman on the other side of the intercom then an order to stay where he was while she came to let him in. He figured that she could have just buzzed him in from her office but she didn't want someone who didn't work here yet to wander around unattended while they tried to find their way to her office.

He frowned and turned to look out at the parking lot as he waited to be let in. Most of the cars were those stupid looking eco-friendly boxes they called cars nowadays, which really didn't surprise him. From what he had read about this place it tried to be as green as possible, it didn't test on animals and had ties to all kinds of charities that helped people, the Earth and whatever else needed help out there now. He rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Lehnsherr."

He turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway, waiting for him. She was certainly beautiful with long blonde hair that held a slight curl, fair skin and… one blue eye and another golden. Erik cocked an eyebrow again as he walked over closer to her to get a better look at those eyes. "Interesting eyes."

She seemed to just ignore his comment but when he was at arm's length she held her hand out for him to shake. "I'm Raven Darkholme-Xavier. We spoke on the phone," She said with a faint, cute smile.

He took her hand and nodded, "Yes, I remember."

"As for my eyes it's called heterochromia, it's a mutation," Raven said, finally addressing his comment then before he could say anything about it she changed the subject, "Let me show you to my office so that we can conduct this interview already."

It was clear by her tone that she wasn't too happy about him showing up hours late but she shouldn't have had the interview set for so bloody early.

When she finally let go of his hand and turned to head back inside he couldn't stop his eyes from following the faint trail of her spine through the fabric of her dress all the way down until they rested on her shapely rear as she walked back inside.

When he realized he was staring, he shook his head to snap himself out of it then followed her inside. She led the way to a large corridor lined with doors made of some kind of dark wood that stood out against the bleached white halls and ended in a set of large double doors.

She gestured to the doors lining the hall. "These offices are where all the facility's officials, accounts and pretty much anyone who isn't a doctor or a researcher work."

She stopped at the double doors and pulled them open. "And this is my office."

The office was large and decorated much like a study in a mansion might be. A large desk made of the same wood the door was made of was off to one side piled with paper work while on the other side of the room was a two person couch and two chairs and book shelves that took up the entire wall.

"Please take a seat." She said pointing to the couch as she walked over to her mess of a desk and picked up a file before taking one of the chairs.

Erik took a seat on the couch and took a moment to look around a little more closely at his surroundings. The room certainly looked and felt like an old-timey study, colored in mostly earthy tones and covered in dust some places. It reminded him of his father's old study back in Poland which helped to make him feel a little more at ease. His eyes finally came to rest on the woman, Raven, as she sat in one of the high backed chair, legs crossed and hands folded over the open file in a very business-like manner.

"Now, Mr. Lehnsherr, I took the time and called all your references and they do all check out with outstanding reviews on your work." Erik smiled a little smugly as she complemented him.

"But," She paused, "I have to say they did not peg you as a people person. Many said you had anger management issues among other things like being rude to coworkers and being sarcastic with patients."

Erik only shrugged. People annoyed him; they got in the way of him doing his job to the best of his ability.

"Don't get me wrong we truly need an expert on the human spine like yourself but we also need someone who can show compassion if faced with working with other doctors and _especially_ patients." She looked away from him, down to her file then back at him. "So truly the only question as far as you getting this job is can you show compassion while working with others?"

He could. That didn't necessarily mean he wanted to but he did need a job and this was one of the best ones for him. In fact, the main reason he moved away from Poland to the United States last year was so he could get _this_ job. "Yes, I think I could easily manage that."

Raven's strange eyes narrowed as she looked him over, it as if trying to stare into his soul and see if he was lying to her. It was a rather unsettling stare actually. After a few moments her serious face broke into a smile and she leaned forward in her chair, hand held out again for another handshake.

"Welcome to Team X, Mr. Lehnsherr. Come on, I'll give you the tour."

**s**


	2. Chapter 2

**Getting to know the Staff**

As they walked down the halls Raven chattered on about this, that and whatever else she probably thought Erik needed to know about the facility. Erik on the other hand walked alongside her completely ignoring every word that came out of her mouth. He didn't need to know where whoever's office was or any of the people she introduced him to. Of course he put on a smile and shook their hand but their names and positions went in one ear and then right out the other.

He played the part he knew she wanted to see perfectly but he didn't get the point of this tour other than for her to able to watch him interact with the other workers. It was really a waste of time, all he really needed to know was where his office was or where he'd mainly be working because everything had a sign on it or a sign pointing to it and everyone had a name tag that said who they were and what they did.

Only when she directed him to an actual laboratory area did he really start to pay attention to what she was saying. "I have two very important people for you to meet. You'll no doubt be working closely with at least one of them every day."

When they entered two men looked up from their work, one simply glanced at them before returning to his work but the other stared at them both with large dark blue eyes hidden behind thick rimmed glasses. He reminded Erik of a squirrel, quick movements and looked as if he'd run away any second if they approached him too quickly. "Hank, this is that new spinal expert I was telling you about the other day, Erik Lehnsherr."

Erik noticed how the other man in the room glanced over his shoulder at him again, this time with a raised eyebrow when Raven called him an expert. The squirrel boy, Hank, looked him over before holding his hand out. "Hank McCoy, it's a pleasure to meet you." He introduced himself with a timid half smile.

"You look a bit young to be a scientist." Erik commented shaking the boy's clammy hand.

Hank seemed to get embarrassed by the comment but Raven beamed. "Hank graduated Harvard at fifteen; he's pretty much our resident genius. He figured out how it's possible for us to run our experiments without testing on animals. We were very lucky to get him away from the government labs and into ours." She patted Hank on the back as she spoke, earning her a full smile from the boy.

Erik nodded; the boy was impressive intellectually wise but he seemed to lack the social skills Raven was requiring him to have. He guessed this was the person he'd be mainly working with, if so he understood why Raven was worried about how well he played with others because this boy can't talk to people.

The moment Raven and Hank began discussing the experiment he was in the middle of Erik tuned them out. He doubted he needed to know about it or that it was a very important breakthrough, it just looked like green cloudy liquid in test tubes. As he ignored them, even though Raven tried to pull him into the conversation several times, he looked around the lab. It was large, with plenty of work space, cabinets and supplies for whatever he needed.

He spotted a refrigerator off to one side labeled 'samples' and began to wonder what type of samples were kept in there. Since he was 'part' of the conversation going on between the two, although all he did was shrug or nod when one of them glanced at him, he settled on checking that out later, it was probably tissue samples and what not. He'd never worked somewhere that was so strict about animal testing before, so he was uncertain how that would work exactly. That would probably be something Hank could explain if he couldn't figure it out on his own, which he probably could.

He continued to scan the room before his eyes settled on a cage set on the opposite side of Hank's work station. He raised an eyebrow and was just about to ask about it when Raven turned to him and smiled. "Let me introduce you to-"

Just as she was about to say the other man in the room's name there was a scoff of disgust and something round and rather annoyingly, bright pink spun toward them on the floor. Raven had stopped talking the moment she spotted it and rushed forward to stop its spinning.

"Shaw!" She exclaimed. "How many times do I have to tell you _not_ to kick the damn ball? You could hurt him!" The other man in the room looked up from what he was doing with his microscope again; a look of complete disinterest on his face which made Erik started to wonder why he seemed to be the only one who had to play nice with others when that guy clearly didn't even have to pretend to care and the other was like a frightened squirrel.

Raven straightened up holding the pink rat ball close, glaring at the man named Shaw who had simply gone back to work. Erik watched her as she made her way over to the cage, her hand sliding over the pink surface as if she was petting the animal inside. "I thought this place didn't test on animals." Erik said looking at Hank who had also been watching Raven.

"We don't." He answered absent mindedly. Erik frown slightly, Hank was staring at her with a love drunk stare, like a schoolgirl might a hot teacher, more proof he may have been a genius but he was still a child.

Raven unscrewed the pink ball's cap and reached into it taking out a small brown and cream colored mouse. She set her hand on the table and the mouse climbed off onto the metal surface. Erik half expected it to start running around but instead the small creature stayed right where Raven had put it as she opened the cage. She pet its head with one finger before gently picking it up and putting it in the cage. "Charles is special."

"Charles?" Erik thought he remembered reading something about the facility that involved the name 'Charles' but he doubted it had to do with a mouse.

Raven looked up at him with a slight smile. "He actually picked it out. I'll show you later." Without any farther explanation she turned away from the two and marched up to the other man to reprimand him for his actions.

Erik walked over to the cage and looked inside. The small mouse hopped of its running wheel and ran up to the small bars to gaze up at him, its little paws holding on to the bars. Erik was shocked to see the small mouse had the most remarkable blue eyes he had ever seen. They shined and sparkled in the bright lights. For what seemed like forever Erik couldn't look away from those remarkable eyes.

The mouse poked its little pink nose through the bars and Erik automatically held his finger out for it to smell. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips when the pink nose twitched as the mouse sniffled him. "How does a lab rat choose its own name?"

As soon as the words 'lab rat' left his lips the mouse's teeth sank into his finger and he pulled back with a shocked hiss. Hank smiled and chuckled lightly which earned him a sharp glare from Erik. "Charles is a mouse that lives in the Lab. He doesn't like being called a lab rat."

Erik looked down at Charles who appeared to be glaring up at him then to the finger he had bitten. There was a faint red mark but nothing more then what would be left if he'd been pinched with nails. For not breaking skin it truly hurt like hell. He pressed the bite mark against the pad of his thumb, applying pressure to make it stop hurting as much.

"As for your question, Raven said she'd show you later. It's quiet amazing actually." Hank smiled at him then glanced at the mouse's cage before returning to his work.

After a few minutes of glaring at Erik the mouse seemed to lose all interest and went back to its running wheel. It didn't run, just sat there rocking in the wheel. Erik frowned and looked around, Hank was staring into a microscope and Raven was still reprimanding the man named Shaw for kicking the pink ball.

Raven turned and caught his eye, beckoning him over. With a sigh he walked over to Raven who had plastered on a smile and Shaw who still looked like the face of disinterest. "Yes?"

"Erik, I'd like for you to meet Sebastian Shaw. He's one of our top researchers on stem cell research and a _big_ pain in my ass." Raven smiled at the man who smirked at her in return. "Shaw, this is Erik Lehnsherr, the new spinal cord expert."

"So this is pretty much Pierce's replacement?" The man looked Erik over head to toe before offering his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Erik."

"Likewise." Erik lied with a smile.

Shaw's ice eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly shook hands. "You can keep up the people-person act with them, don't pull it with me."

Erik smiled wider and nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

Raven cleared her throat, her arms crossed over her chest in a display of annoyance. "Shaw, _do not_ turn him into an anti-social prick like you." She hissed as she wagged her index finger at him for emphasis like a parent might a child. All this did was make Shaw's smirk turn into a wide grin.

Erik smiled at the interaction between the two, curious to know why they didn't get along.

"If he becomes as _amazing_ as I am, it's only because he finally dropped the act you have him playing. Right, Erik?" Shaw smiled patting Erik on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Now if you'll stop wasting my time Raven, I have samples that are on a set time restriction of being viable that I need to get back to. Erik, I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise." Shaw smiled, knowing this time that Erik wasn't putting on an act.

Raven frown and grabbed Erik's arm, pulling him quickly away from Shaw. "I'm sorry about him. He's an ass but he's brilliant."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." He said glancing back at Shaw then to Raven who was walking over toward the mouse's cage. "You said I needed to work well with others and he clearly doesn't."

"You need to be, there will be times you have to work with patients, he thankfully doesn't and I have my reasons for keeping him around. Come on, I'll show you Charles' trick then we'll get to work on a work contract." She smiled grabbing the cage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Naming a Mouse**

Charles hated when his cage was picked up. It always made him feel dizzy and he had been dropped more than once which was a very unpleasant experience. He jumped down from his wheel and tried staying as still as he could while he was carried down the halls, back into the big office he slept in most nights.

When the cage was set down safely on the desk he felt free to move again. He got up and ran over to his food bowl to grab one of his sunflower seeds to calm his nerves. He tried biting into one but it seemed to not want to come open no matter which way he tried to peel it. He squeaked in frustration.

He looked over his shoulder at the sound of his cage door opening. Dropping his sunflower seed he crawled toward the open door. As he peered out, his little pink nose twitched, sniffing the air to see if it was safe before crawling out and onto the desk his cage was set on not moments before it was opened.

He sat on the desk then looked up at the blonde girl with the weird eyes he had come to know as Raven, the woman that 'owned' him. He just thought of her as the woman who gave him sunflower seeds and fruit when he squeaked too much or did something she considered to be 'good boy' behavior.

"Charles?" She whispered softly, he liked her whispering better than the obnoxious baby talk she sometimes did when he sat on her shoulder eating fruit or seeds she fed him while she worked. She tried explaining her work to him in that annoying baby talk like he couldn't understand her normal voice just fine. He loved hearing about the work she did but she didn't need to say things like 'Duchenne muscular dystrophy' or 'Huntington's' like they were the cutest names in a baby book. They were terrible disorders and nothing to be joked about.

He always wanted to bite her when she talked that way to him. Did she really think he couldn't understand her or something?

He tilted his head to the side as he waited for her to continue. "Charles, this is Erik I want you to show him your little trick, can you do that?"

He had the urge to bite her for her stupid question. Of course he could do it; it wasn't a trick he just pointed to his name on a page. Since the day he was born he knew that had been his name, he didn't know how but he figured that all mice were born knowing their own names. He didn't understand at all why she called it a trick.

Looking at the man named Erik that he had bitten not too long ago he nodded his head. He just had to get this over with and then he would get a treat, hopefully a strawberry but he'd be okay if it was just more sunflower seeds, preferably ones that were easy to open. He was running low and the ones that were left were like the one he couldn't get into. But he felt his mouth start watering at the thought of the possibility of the sweet fruit.

He was so warped up in his thoughts he didn't notice Raven reaching out to him until her hand was on top of him picking him up. He squeaked and wiggled to try to get away but froze when he saw he was no longer in safe falling distance.

"Here hold him for a minute." She said holding the mouse out to Erik. He just gazed at the creature enclosed in her hand and shook his head. Raven rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand she set the small creature in it.

Charles squeaked and looked around his new surroundings before his blue eyes came to rest on Erik who was staring back at him as if he was waiting to be bitten again. They stayed there staring at each other for a few minutes. Charles wasn't sure if Erik would drop him if he made any sudden movements so he slowly lowered his head to sniff the man's hand, nudging the rough skin with his nose.

This human smelled good, really good, like pine chips and paper from those big, old books Raven sometimes read to him before she left for the night. He lay down and curled up in the palm of Erik's large hand letting the calming scent wash over him. He nuzzled his cheek against Erik's warm skin as he closed his eyes.

Raven looked over at Erik and arched a fine eyebrow seeing the mouse's behavior. "Seems he likes you. Funny since he doesn't normally warm up to people who call him a rat."

Erik tore his gaze from the mouse that was apparently sleeping in his hand and looked over at Raven who had gone back to her search of the bookshelf.

"Got it!" She smiled and turned around to face Erik.

She walked over to the chair she had sat in during his 'interview' and gestured for him to join her. "Just gently put him down on the table please."

The moment Erik started moving Charles woke up and looked up at Erik, staying low, close to his palm so he wouldn't stumble and possibly fall. Hank had moved his hand too fast once and had caused Charles to stumble right off his hand; thankfully he was over the table so he didn't get hurt too bad in the fall.

Erik seemed a lot more careful than Hank or the patients Raven let hold him. He held his hand firmly; fingers spread slightly and curled to create a barrier to keep him from falling then as an added bonus pet him. Charles closed his eyes, shivering as Erik ran two fingers down his back, along his spine, starting behind his ears and then all the way down to the tip of his tail. It was so nice, nicer then when Raven pet him even.

He wanted to cry when Erik set him down on the table and stopped petting him. Maybe Raven would let Erik pet him more if he was good and pointed to his name like she wanted. That would be better than a strawberry so when Raven set the book down on the table he quickly moved over to it and nudged the cover open with his nose.

"Can he open that by himself?" Erik asked as he watched the small mouse squeak and try to push it open.

"I tried to help him once and he bit me."

Charles ignored them and finally flipped the hard cover over. He went to the tabs with the letters on them like they had in dictionaries and grabbed the one for C with his teeth. This was the hard part. So many pages. They were heavy altogether.

He finally got the book open to the Ch's and tapped his paw on his name, 'Charles.' He looked from Raven who was smiling approvingly as normal over to Erik who just stared at him with one eyebrow raised.

"I'll be damned. When did he first do that?" Erik said as he reached out to pet him but to his disappointment Raven grabbed him first.

She placed him on her chest and gently scratched him behind the ears. He loved when she pet him like this but her perfume was over powering and it was making him dizzy. He crawled up to rest on her shoulder, his paws slipping on her silk blouse.

"The first time he did it was when I was looking for a name for him. I had been flipping through the Cs and he jumped on the page to stop me and pointed to it." Raven said no longer paying the mouse any attention. "I was a little disturbed by it at first because that was my brother's name so I tried calling him other things but he only listened to the name Charles."

"Mice don't answer to names though."

"He does."

"I remembered reading something about a Charles when looking at this place."

"Yeah, I opened this place and dedicated it to my younger brother, Charles." Raven picked the mouse up off her shoulder and held him in her hands. He looked up at her and saw her staring at him with that sad look she got whenever she talked about this other Charles.

Erik must have seen it too because he changed the subject. "How's that mouse have blue eyes? I've never heard of a blue eyed mouse."

He looked over at Erik who was staring at him or Raven's chest, he couldn't really tell, either way it made him very uncomfortable. "I don't know actually. It's one of the reasons I kept him. When I found this facility it was abandoned so when I had a tour of it I found this little mouse curled up in the corner of one of the offices. He was tiny and cute and when he opened his eyes they were so blue, they reminded me of my brother's actually."

Charles remembered that day. He'd been so hungry and scared and tired of running from a really big rat that had been trying to kill him that he had just collapsed. He was less than a month old and separated from his family, a family he strangely couldn't even remember, too early to really survive on his own. He saw human shoes heading toward him before his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up he was in his cage and lying on something soft near a pile of fruit and seeds and a thing that dripped water when he licked it. Instead of running around exploring he went straight for the fruit until a human's hand picked him up making him lose his grasp on a blueberry.

"It's certainly an interesting color." Erik commented, his voice snapping Charles out of his memories. "So… work contract?"

"Ah, yes." Raven stood up, placed the mouse on the coffee table and walked over to her desk.

Charles was good and sat where he was put until she came back without some kind of treat for him. That wasn't very fair; he had shown them his name like she had asked. He always got a treat after that. The other two started talking about wages and laboratory rules and all that boring stuff so he just tried to busy himself while he was being ignored.

He wandered aimlessly around the tabletop until a hand closed over top of him. He squeaked unhappily. He really hated when people picked him up like this but this time as the fingers closed around him that sweet scent of pine and old paper surrounded him so he didn't protest much.

The moment he was set on Erik's lap he tried climbing up his shirt but his paws not quite grasping the material well enough. He wanted to sit on Erik's shoulder. He stopped trying to climb and stayed where he was, looking up at Erik who wasn't even looking at him, he was staring at Raven.


End file.
